Sewing machine



Feb. 4, 1941.

R. E. MEREDITH EI'AL 2,

SEWING MACHINE Filed July 29, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 m a l V 32 a5. a a 02 /z m /a/ A29 1Q: Lg

' INVENT F 9 R04? E. Ms/l o/rH g' JOYCE M M58500 M AMVM Feb 4, 1941. R. E. MEREDITH arm.

SEWING MACHINE 4 Sheets-PSheet 2 Filed July 29. 1959 INVENTOR RAMP/1 E. MEPED/rfl do YCE H. fifseso/rw BY TTORNEYJ,

Feb. 4, 1941.

R. E. MEREDITH ETAL ,2 0,

SEWING MACHINE Filed July 29, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IF lll I I01. I 1 I 077 g ylll/llllll l/ill/llm I I? I I @I H 79 :1: 1 ll 1 I 1 lmlli Q9, Z- 75-5 5 90 INVENTOR may '25, amal? 1* Bye yc lit/115660.471)! AMI/MIM ATTORNEY-5,

Feb. 4, 1941. R. E. MEREDITH E1 AL 2,230,466

' SEWING MACHINE Filed July 29, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 govce H. Maren/7w M MAM /ATTORNEY.S,

i atented Feb. 4, 1941 SEWING Madame Ralph E. Meredith and Joyce H. Meredith Milwaukee, Wis.

Application July 29-, 1939, Serial No. 287,296

9 Claims.

Our invention relates to improvements in sewing machines.

The object of this invention is to provide a sewing machine especially usable for sewing one piece of material to another, for instance, the sewing of a label upon the materialof a garment or where the line of stitching produced by the sewing machine is automatically directed upon a predetermined path and means are provided for applying pressure upon the zone of the material within that path and for automatically removing the presser device.

More particularly stated, it is the object of this invention to provide a sewing machine or sewing machine attachment and equipment for sewing one piece of material upon another and to provide a presser. foot centrally of a pattern of stitching to be formed by the sewing machine, with provision for removing the presser foot and its coordinately movable parts so that the stitching mechanism of the sewing machine may complete the pattern in a single operation.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of our improved sewing machine with portions of the sewing machine head being broken away to disclose parts therewithin and therebeneath. v

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of that portion of our sewing machine directly pertaining to the presser foot and some of its coordinately moving parts, the presser foot being shown in retracted position and a portion-of the spring actuator being shown in vertical section.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but somewhat enlarged and showing our presser foot in position against the work, portions of the work holder being shown in vertical section.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1 and showing means for changing the direction of movement of the work holder.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the rear portion of a sewing machine and showing automatic means for stopping the sewing mechanism upon completion-of a pattern of stitching upon the' work.

Fig. 8 is a section on line 8--8 of Fig. 4. r Fig. 9 is a section on line 9-'-9 of Fig. 1 and showing a fragment of stretcher arm 28. 7 Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views. 5 The principal featuresmf this invention relate to a work holding mechanism, a presser foot mechanism for holding a label upon the work during the greater part of a label sewing operation, a work and label moving mechanism for 10 carrying on a sewing operation, and means for instituting and automatically removing the presser foot without stopping the sewing operation.

The sewing machine in which we incorporate our label sewing devices is a conventional one in 15 which a sewing head V lJl is disposed over a bed H upon which the direct work holding mechanism is supported. 2K horizontal arm l2 for the head supports an enclosed crank shaft I3 extending the length of the machine from the head I0 to a driving pulley I which is motivated by a belt I5 from any power source (not shown). .A needle I6 extending .downtvalrdlyirom the head I0 is constantly reciprocated by the crank shaft l3 when the machine is in operation. The needle end of the machine is the front of the machine for purposes of operation.

The work holder Beneath the head I and supported upon the bed II, we provide a work holder which is mounted for reciprocation in two directions. For forward and backward movement there is a dovetail slide I! in guides l8 and upon the slide, we provide a clamp carrier l9 upon which the central portion of the work 20 actually rests as shown in Fig. 3. The clamp carrier is of considerable extent forwardly and backwardly and has marginal guides 2| for a work receiving frame 22 over which the work is laid. This 0 frame is apertured at 23 for reception of a work stretcher 24 supported by a work stretcher arm I 29. Around the margins of the aperture in the work receiving frame 22, we provide a clamp ring 21 which is actuated by clamp ring springs 28 and arm 29 which is pivoted at 30 and which is oscillated by a work holder actuator 3|. Actuator 3| is connected by means of a link 32 to a pedal (not shown) beneath the bed of the machine and the operator, by pressing on the pedal, can release the work as will now be described.

Assuming that the work holder is empty and the clamp ring and work stretcher are upraised upon the hinge pintle 30, the work may be positioned over the aperture 23. When downward pressure is released on link 32, the clamp ring arm will lower the clamp ring into position upon the work and clamp it between the ring and the work receiving frame 22 through action of coil spring 200 which was compressed by downward pressure of pedal. The action will precede the application of the stretcher 24 because the clamp ring is urged downwardly ahead of the stretcher by clamp ring springs 35. Immediately after the clamp ring bears upon the work, the stretcher 24 forces the central portion of the work downwardly into contact with the clamp carrier l9 because of tension on coil spring 200.

Presser foot One of the most important features of this invention is the provision of a presser foot to bear centrally upon a label or other article whereby to hold it while stitching operations are accomplished around the margins, and provision for release of the presser foot and shifting to a position to provide unrestricted access to the work during completion of the stitching.

Furthermore, our new presser foot is so constructed with reference to the work holder that it moves therewith and when once pressed into position upon a label remains there until its function as a label holding element is completed. It moves with the work and the work holder throughout practically the entire stitching operation. When the stitching is almost complete, the presser foot is released and raises vertically a short distance before swinging out and away from the needle. It then may swing through a complete arc of movement preparatory to the next cycle of stitching operations upon the next label.

Figures 1, 2 and 3 illustrate the mechanism which we have devised for presser foot control. The presser foot itself is shown at 40. It is held upon a presser foot arm 4| secured adjustably at 42 to a clamp which is incorporated in a vertically slidable cam tube 43 on a presser foot post 44. On the post is a cam block 45 which coacts with a cam surface 46 of the cam tube 43 when the cam tube is forced downwardly on the post. Thus the presser foot is swung into position upon the work by this cam action as it is lowered. In the lowermost position of the cam tube upon the post 44, the cam block 45 is received in a slot 41 in the tube 43. Thus in the final movement of the tube and, therefore, the final movement of the presser foot into position upon the work, the movement of the parts is vertical.

The post 44, being rigidly mounted upon the work receiving frame 22, moves therewith and we therefore provide the following mechanism for moving the presser foot into position and for releasing it. The single manual or foot control being operated from a fixed position at 48, we provide a treadle with a link 49 extending upwardly through the bed of the machine to a cross arm 50. This cross arm is rigidly connected to a tubular shank mounted upon an upright post 52 carried by the bed ll of the machine. Between the bed of the machine and the tubular shank 5|, we provide a compression spring 53 which constantly urges the cross arm 50 to its uppermost position which is determined by a collar 54 at the top of thepost 52.

The cross arm 50 is hollow and is in telescopic relation to a cross rod 55 which is outstanding from the cam tube 43.. Within the cam tube 43 is a spring 56 which bears upon the post 44 and against the under side of the closed top portion of the cam tube 43. This spring 56 is placed under compression when the presser foot is lowered into position upon the label and remains under compression until the presser foot is to be released from the work, whereupon it returns the presser foot to retracted position.

When thepresser foot is in position upon a label and the cam tube is in its lowermost position upon the post 44, latch 58 is urged into engagement with a socket 59 in the cam tube by means of a spring 60 which bears against the under side of the latch release arm 6! and the latch, therefore, holds the presser foot down upon the label even though pressure upon the pedal 48 is removed. When the pressure upon the pedal is released, spring 53 returns the cross arm 54 and the rod 55 to its uppermost position, thus relieving the cam tube for easy return to its uppermost position when the latch 58 is released.

Release of the latch 53 is accomplished by means of a latch release arm 52 provided with a pin 63 to bear upon a cam surface 64 forming part of the arm GI. The latch release arm 62 is rigidly supported upon the bed ii of the machine and does not move with the work carrying parts. Thus, the pin 63 is not in effective motion transmitting relation to the latch until the work carrier is in a precise predetermined position in relation to the stitching of the label, but when in that precise position, the pin 63 will ride upon the cam surface 64 and withdraw the latch from the socket 59 in the cam tube. When thus released, the cam tube will spring to its uppermost position under the urge of spring 56 and as the presser foot arm 4| is rapidly raised, it is brought in contact with a deflector spring 55,carried by the head l0, and the presser foot and its directly associated parts swing in an arc to a retracted position shown in Fig. 2 where it is in readiness for the next label stitching operation to which it returns upon pressure upon treadle 48. Each time that the label presser foot is released from one label, it travels to a retracted position and then as it is brought again to a label pressing position, it travels through a complete cycle of movement.

Work and label moving mechanism As stated above, the needle i6 is laterally stationary and carries on its stitching operations merely through vertical reciprocation. -The progressive stitching along the margins of a label under thepresser foot is accomplished through movement of the work and label holder, which movement is carried on as now to be described.

The work holder is moved forwardly and backwardly upon dovetailed slide l1 and it is moved laterally in the marginal guides 2i on clamp carrier l9. Dovetaileo slide I1 is connected by means of a pitman to a bell crank Ii, one arm of which is slotted at 12 to receive'connection with one end of the pitman. The other arm of the bell crank II is provided with a cam follower 13 adapted to move in a cam track 14 of a feed wheel provided for step by step rotation. The step by step rotation of the feed wheel 15 is accomplished by a well known type of mechanism including feed dogs 16 which are oscillated by ing rod, as is well known in the art, has its upward terminal vertically bored to receive eccentric rod 8IA which constantly reciprocates under the power from the crank shaft I3. Eccentric rod 8IA is notched at 82 and a dog arm '83 is provided with a dog 84 to extend through a notch in the wall of the connecting rod and into the notch 82 in the eccentric rod, th us connecting the eccentric rod and the connecting rod. A spring (not shown) urges the dog 84 into engagement with the notch 82 so that normally the eccentric rod 8 IA and the connectingrod 82 move as one unless special mechanism is-provided to break the connection. Thus, when the dog 84 is in engagement in a notch in the rod IlIA, the feed wheel IS-is moved in step by step rotation and the bell crank II with its pitman 10 are caused to oscillate and reciprocate respectively in control of the dovetailed slide. The work carrier is, therefore, moved forwardly and backwardly to an extent dictated by the precise adjustment of the connection between the pltman I0 and the sloted arm I2 oi the bell crank II.

Lateral movement of the work carrier is ac- 2 complished by means of a feed wheel 90 which is rotated in a step by step motion carried on by dogs 9| actuated by rocker 92 and connecting rod 93. Connecting rod 93 is likewise notched at 84 and is connectible to an eccentric rod 85 by means of a dog 96, mounted upon dog arm 81 similar to dog 84 and operating inv similar notches. Eccentric rod 95 is vertically reciprocated by connection to cross head I I8 which is intermediately pivoted as shown in Fig. 1 and is rapidly oscillated by the same eccentric which operates eccentrio rod BIA. In our new construction, dog arm 83 and dog arm 91 are so connected that either one or the other of said dogs is in engagement and we provide a snap action mechanism whereby alternatively to snap one of the dogs into engagement in its notch or the other dog into engagement in its 'notch with a quick action. 4

Each of the feed wheels 15 and 80 is mounted upon its shaft I00and IOI, respectively, said shafts being carried in suitable bearings I02 and I03, respectively, carried by the bed II of the machine. At the top of each of said shafts I 00' and I M is a cam head I04 and since the cam 0 heads are identical in construction, we shall proceed to describe one of them with the understand-.- ing that the description of the other is unneces sary.

The cam head I04 is plate-like and upon its surface are supported two cam blocks I05 and I06. Midway between the cam heads, a walking beam I01 with roller tipped ends I08 and I00 is mounted for oscillation upon bracket I I0. Formed rigidly with the walking beam I0! is an upwardly extending trip arm III connected by linkage at I I2 with a trip rod I I3. Trip rod H3 is relieved at H4 and H5 to receive dog actuator arms H6 and III, respectively, and at the top of the cross head II8, we provide a spring H8 to bear into either of two notches I20 or I2I as a detent to hold the cross rod H3 in either of two extremes of its motion.

The feed wheels I5 and 90 are so timed that the cam blocks such as I05 and I06 are alternatively brought to bear upon the walking beam terminals I08 and I09. Thus when cam block I06 has tilted the walking beam" to the position shown in Fig. 4, the next sequence of motion in the rotation of feed wheel 90 will bring one of the cam blocks on the cam head I 04 into position against the roller I09 and will tilt the walking beam back to the opposite position in readiness for the next contact of a cam block upon cam head I 04. Thus in the cycle of the walking beam movement, the cross rod H3 is thrown 5 from right to left and left to right successively through action of flat spring 20I on lever 202. As it is thrown to the right, dog 84 is thrown into engagement with eccentric rod 8| and the feed wheel I5 is caused to rotate. Then as the 10 cross rod II 3 is thrown to the left through walking beam I01, the dog arm H1 is thrown into engagement to complete the conecting rod operation of feed wheel and feed wheel I5 is brought to rest. 15

We have already described the forward and backward movement of the work carrier as carried on through rotation of the feed wheel I5. When feed wheelBII is rotated, a cam track I25 acts upon a cam follower I26 on the end of a 20 lever 921 pivoted at I28. A slide block I29 is ad- .iustably fixed upon the lever I21 and has an open lug I30 slidably mounted upon a rod I3I carried by an extension I32 of the work receiving frame 22. Lug 130 is in pivotal relation to the slide 25 block I28. The connection between the extension I 82 and the work receiving frame 22 is provided by means of screws I33 adjustably receivable through slot I34 in the extension and may be used for purposes of alignment and to assist 30 in the adjustment of the slide block I29 upon the lever I21 when a change in the travel of the work receiving carrier is to be made.

Thus, by means of the control of the feed wheels I5 and 80 and the parts hereina-bove de- 35 scribed, we have made it possible to move the work laterally and to move it forwardly and backwardly under accurate control thus causing the work to follow a pattern of movement which is dictated by the adjustment of the slide block I29 40 and by the adjustment of the pitman I0, in its connection with the bell crank 'II, and because of the step bystep movement alternatively of the feed wheels I5 and and the constant operation oi the needle I6, the stitching operations follow- 45 ing the pattern of movement referred to will marginally stitch a label centrally held by the presser foot.

Starting and stopping operation While, in general, the starting and stopping of the sewing machine uses conventional parts to which we have not contributed, we shall describe this mechanism so that the interconnection of the various parts and the complete operation of 55 our new label sewing machine maybe understood. Fundamentally, the starting and stopping of the machine is accomplished by throwing belt I5 from an idler pulley I40, to the working pulley I. This is accomplished by means of a pulley arm or lever I42 and a vertical pulley arm rod I43 extending down through the bed II of the machine. Rod I43-is-notched-at I44 so that when the rod is down and the machine is operating, a stop lever I45 is engaged in the notch. 65

This operation is accomplished manually to start the machine. Stop lever I45 is pivoted at I46 and has a cam end I41. Upon the feed wheel I5 is a lug I48 which. is so positioned as to come in contact with the cam end i 41 when the sew- 70 ing machine has completed a cycle of operations upon a label. Having come in contact with the cam end I", stop arm I45 is released from the notch I44 and a compression spring (not shown) attached to the pulley arm or lever actuates such 70 lever to throw the belt onto the idler pulley. The machine is manually started.

We claim: 1. In a sewing machine structure, a work holder to receive, stretch and hold work,and stitching means in position to carry on a stitch-. ing operation at a fixed point, connections between the stitching means and the work holder whereby to move the work holder and-the work in a predetermined patternoi movement with reference to said stitching means, and a presser foot provided with an arm movable-to andfrom a position to press upon the work within'said pattern, means for resiliently pressing. said presser foot upon the work, and automatic means for releasing said resilient means and for movement of the arm and-said presser foot at a predetermined point in the movement of the stitching means. I

2. In a sewing machine, a-work holder mounted for lateral and for forward and backward movement, stitching devices for operation upon work in the work holder, separate work'holder moving devices for each direction of movement thereof, and connections alternatively connectible between the separate moving devices 1 and the stitching devices whereby to move and change the direction of movement of the work holder so that the entire sewing operation can be completed in a single operation, one ofsaid alternatively'connectible connections being provided with adjustable means for changing its range of movement whereby to accommodate various sizes of work. Y i

3. In a device of the 'characterdescribed, a presser foot and mechanism for the support and adjustment thereof for swinging movement of the presser foot to and from a working position,

said mechanism including a presser foot supporting arm and a carrier for said arm provided with a supporting element, said carrier and its support having interengageable means whereby in the swinging movement of the presser 'foot and its supporting arm to arrest the motion "of the presser foot and itsai'm and dispose the presser foot in working position.

4. In a device of the character described for carrying on a working cycle, a presser foot and mechanism for the support and adjustment thereof for movement of the presser foot to and from-a working position, said mechanism including a presser foot supporting arm and a carrier for said arm provided with a supporting element, said carrier and its support having interengageable means whereby to arrest themotion ofthe presser foot and its arm and disposethe presser foot in working position, and a latch for positively positioning the presser foot andfor automatic release therefrom for completion of the working cycle.

5. In a device of the character described, a

stitching mechanism and power connections for the operation thereof, a work holder to receive and hold work in position to be worked upon by said stitching means, said work holder having separate carriages. for movement in a plurality of directions and separate power .connections between said first mentioned power connection andsaid carriages and a control device for alternatively completing either of said separate power connections wherebyto move the work" holder in a pattern of movement said separate power connectionshavi'ng adjustable elementsto increase or decreasethe extent of movement of said work holder in either direction.

, 6.- The combination with a work holder providinga framed opening to expose work in said holder,-of a presserfoot swingable to and from work holding. position upon the exposed work in 'said frame, a post movable with said work holder and a-tubular carrier for the presser foot mounted upon said post, a stop upon the post and a slot in said tubular carrier whereby in the rotation of the presser foot and carrier upon said post to position the presser foot with reference to said frame when the stop is in said slot,iand resilient means between the post and the carrier to thrust the'carrier to presser foot retracted position.

'7. A sewing mechanism including a work holder mounted to transcribe a pattern of movement and provided with an aperture adapted to expose a portion of the work, a post mounted on said work'holder and provided with a stop, a tubular member floatably mounted on said post, said member provided with a slot adapted to receive said post stop to limit the floating movement and to position said pressure foot when the stop is in said slot, resilient means intermediate the post and the carrier to normally bias the presser foot toward retracted position, a latch adapted to hold the presser foot in work contacting position during some of said work holder movement, and mechanical means for release of the presser foot during other movement of the work holder.

arresting such movement of the presser foot andits supportpending the final stitching operation and substitution of another label to be stitched.

9. In a label stitching machine, the combination ith stitching means adapted to progressively stitch marginal portions of a label to articles to be labeled; a presser foot movable into and out of contact with the label in the space to be enclosedby said stitching line, a support for the presser foot extending" across the path defined by the stitching means when the presser foot is in working position, and mechanism for uni-directional actuation of said support adapted to move it out of the path of the stitching mechanism and return it to working position after one stitching operation is completed and in time .toinitiate; a, subsequent operation on another RALPH E. MEREDITH. JOYCE H. MEREDITH. 

